Ofsted report praises Lincoln school for work to come out of special measures

A Lincoln village school which was put in special measures last summer has been praised in a recent Ofsted report for its swift progress towards improvements.

As previously reported, inspectors visited Cherry Willingham Community School last June, ranking the comprehensive as “inadequate”, the lowest possible rating.

Inspectors visited the school and its subsequent report has now concluded that the school’s leaders and manager are “taking effective action”.

The latest report praised a number of steps taken by the school since the school’s full inspection last June and commended the school’s management team for their “strong commitment to bring about improvement”.

The work done to develop a positive, caring and safe environment in the school was also identified by inspectors as an important step forward.

The report stated: “Senior leaders have been swift to ensure that the school has developed a culture of listening to pupils and acting upon any concerns that they may have.

“Senior leaders have made listening to pupils and catering for their needs a clear priority. Nearly all pupils who met with the lead inspector reported that they could speak to members of staff where they had concerns and that they were confident that these concerns would be dealt with.”

The school was praised for appointing three pastoral support officers to help with students’ welfare and for its “greater focus on studying spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues”.

Cherry Willingham head teacher Elaine Stiles said: “We are pleased the inspectors have recognised the work and development in the school in just a few short months.

“The whole school community, from staff and students to governors and parents, is working together every day to create and sustain an environment in which pupils thrive.

“We are confident that culture is already making a difference and we will continue our drive to ensure all out pupils reach their potential.”

The school was put in special measures when inspectors raised concerns about “a minority of students” persistently disrupting lessons at the school, though praised the school for its teaching described as “mostly good and improving rapidly”.

This term Cherry Willingham introduced a new pupil rewards system, developed by a Yorkshire school rated as the best in Northern England.

In the school near Wakefield the positive discipline programme, which aims to create an environment where teachers can focus on teaching and students can focus on learning, saw its A* to C grades climb from 18 per cent to 76%.